Man charged with breaching 14-day stay-home notice 4 times, including meeting female tenant twice

SINGAPORE — A 27-year-old man was charged in court on Friday (Oct 22) with breaching his stay-home notice requirements by leaving his hotel room on four occasions in April this year.

Ang Chenrui, a Singaporean, faces four charges under the Infectious Diseases Act. He had been issued the stay-home notice from April 17 to May 1.

Court documents showed that he had reason to suspect he was a contact of a Covid-19 case.

An Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer told him that he needed to serve it at a dedicated facility — the JW Marriott Hotel Singapore South Beach in the Bugis area — and that he could not leave his room for the duration of the order.

But on April 20, Ang allegedly left the hotel and returned to his Housing and Development Board flat along Serangoon Central.

He then purportedly met his female tenant, who was identified in court documents as Ms Zhang Xiaoya from China. They had dinner at a nearby coffee shop and went to Nex shopping mall before he returned to the hotel alone.

The next day, Ang allegedly left his room on the sixth floor again and sat on a chair outside his room. The following day, he was said to have gone to the ground floor lobby.

On both of these occasions, hotel staff noticed him and he was told to return to his room, the ICA said in a press release.

On April 24, he obtained approval from the relevant authorities to go to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for a consultation, the ICA added, without providing more details.

The hotel then arranged to take him to IMH, but he allegedly did not register for consultation upon getting there and purportedly returned home instead.

He is then said to have met Ms Zhang again. They went to Orchard Road and had dinner at a restaurant near Farrer Park MRT station before returning to their flat.

The hotel subsequently found out what happened and alerted ICA. Enforcement officers found him at home.

He was then admitted to IMH where he served the remaining days of his stay-home notice.

He indicated his intention to plead guilty, and will return to court on Dec 3.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.

The ICA said in its press release that strict compliance with stay-home notice requirements is “key to safeguarding the health and safety of our community”.

Members of the public can report information on breaches at gov.gov.sg/reportshnbreach or call 9812-5555.